


The Marauders

by Siera_Knightwalker



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Academic! James, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Bittersweet, Black Family Drama (Harry Potter), Black Family Madness (Harry Potter), Black Family Tapestry (Harry Potter), Black Family-centric (Harry Potter), Charms Expert, Charms Specialist!James, Child Abuse, Childhood Friends, Epic Friendship, Eventual Happy Ending, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Family Issues, Female Friendship, Female Marauders (Harry Potter), Female OCs into Male Characters, First Meetings, Friendship, Gen, Gender Norms, Gender or Sex Swap, Genderfluid Character, Hogwarts, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, James Potter is Ready to Help, James Potter is a Good Friend, Law, Law Enforcement, Law! Remus, Male Friendship, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Modern Marauders (Harry Potter), Non werewolf Remus Lupin, OC, OCs - Freeform, Original Characters - Freeform, Overprotective Sirius Black, POV Alternating, POV James Potter, POV Multiple, POV Remus Lupin, POV Sirius Black, POV Third Person, Pre-War, Protective Sirius Black, Remus Lupin is Not a Werewolf, Remus Lupin is Ready to Help, Remus Lupin is So Done, SI OC - Freeform, SI-OC, Self-Insert, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Sirius Black is Fucked Up, Sirius Black is Lord Black, Sirius Black needs Help, The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, Three POVS, Three characters shake the world, Trust Issues, Wizarding Culture (Harry Potter), Wizarding Politics (Harry Potter), Wizarding World (Harry Potter), Wizarding World is Not Prepared, Young James Potter, Young Remus Lupin, Young Sirius Black, friendship fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:40:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 4,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25922212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siera_Knightwalker/pseuds/Siera_Knightwalker
Summary: Three deaths gives rise to three new lives. A tragedy lays the path to their new future. Lost and changed, they will find their way back to renewal. The three together again, one more time.
Relationships: Regulus Black & James Potter, Regulus Black & Sirius Black, Remus Lupin & James Potter, Sirius Black & James Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & James Potter
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	1. Chapter 1

_James POV_

James woke up at age four with a memory of a previous life. He remembered a younger bratty sister, a loving but harsh mother, and two best friends around whom his life revolved around. He woke with tears in his eyes and longing in his heart.

He didn't remember how it ended nor how it began, but he had lived another life. A life completely different from this. A life, he realized with dawning horror, that he shouldn't remember. He calmed himself before opening his eyes to the two familiar shapes of what he now realized were his parents. They didn't stay up day and night for him, but they were by his side at an instant whenever he couldn't sleep, when he had nameless nightmares, when he cried tears of grief for someone he could no longer recognize. Who were the two people that came in his dreams and nightmares so often? Who seemed to haunt every step of the way? Who were these two girls who he never seemed to part with?

...girls? He...was a female too, wasn't he? In his past life, he had been a female too, and yet it barely even bothered him when he thought of himself as male. He used to hate being female because of...blood?

He flinched at a memory of an unfamiliar yet familiar voice screaming.

His hands shook with fear, and his mind shied away from the memory. He didn't need to know that. No. He shouldn't know that.

Even when his parents tried to comfort him into sleep, he couldn't shake the bone deep fear that had rooted inside him. He didn't want to know who it was.

But how could he help without knowing who it was? He should know, shouldn't he? That could be one of his friends. Someone needed his help, didn't they? He should help when they needed it, shouldn't he? But then, why couldn't he shake this fear off? Why didn't he want to remember? Why did he hate himself so much because he couldn't make himself remember?

There was someone.

Someone who needed him.

Someone who he couldn't help.

Who was it...?


	2. Chapter 2

_Sirius POV_

Sirius woke with blood in his mouth and a name on his lips.

_A vision of golden eyes, tear stricken face and pale skin that made me uneasy in a way she couldn't name._

_"I'm so sorry! I'm so-"_

_Her eyelids grew heavy and the pain almost felt bearable._

_She was fine, it's alright.' she thought absently._

_"Don't- don't close your eyes. Come on."_

_She could rest._

_"Don't leave me." A broken whisper left her lips and cold tears found purchase on her collarbones._

_Her eyes flickered with the desire to open them. Reassure her. She wasn't leaving her. She just needed to sleep._

_Seconds bled into silent minutes and a trembling, wet hand slowly reached for her chest. They lay there, silent as night. She only felt a soft warm pressure on her wrist. Her thumb brushed across her slowing pulse._

_She faded._

He jerked awake with a thundering heartbeat, tumbling down his bed and halfway across the room. His throat was dry as the desert and he couldn't stop his trembling.

Did he-

No. Of course not.

That was a silly thought. It was a stupidly realistic nightmare. No way was-

His throat closed up at the thought.

"Master Sirius!"

"Kreby?" His voice was faint and broke halfway through the word. His voice was definitely male.

He sat staring blankly at the wooden floorboards while a thin, strange but familiar creature sat beside him.

"Master Sirius be getting cold on the floor." The creature gently lifted him and put him back on the bed. She tucked him under the baby blankets and slowly stroked his hair.

She turned, staring at the gentle creature. She was thin, wore rags and smiled like she had mothered him herself. Her big eyes were bright and-

golden.

He couldn't stop the racking sobs that tore itself from his throat. His nose flowed and even when the creature gently hugged and comforted him, he couldn't stop crying.

He had died.

He had died in an accident with two friends; one, who was either dead or unconscious, and another, who watched him fade away.

Kreby rocked him, gently shushing him and every time he saw her bright worried eyes, he remembered her.

_"Don't leave me." She whispered with a broken voice, and a heart full of grief and pain._

He closed his eyes in the same grief and the strange, loving creature gently rocked him to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

_ Remus POV _

Remus woke to a drab, silent room, confused. Stumbling as he got up, he left the room immediately, not noticing any changes. Panic and tears blurred his vision.

"Uh-" He paused outside of the door, stunned by the scene that met his eyes and at the lack of the memory of the name that remained out of his grasp. His hands darted to his throat, and he collapsed against the wooden door, breathless with the knowledge of the truth.

"No. No, no, no. No."

His eyes shut close at the memory of the crunching of bones, of his hand curling around an arm only to find blood spurting from the dismembered limb. Of the crushing of ribs. The last few moments when he saw a body curled protectively over the other. Of the single horrified glance at him before his vision darkened.

He gagged, and tears mixed with the searing smell of vomit until he could barely tell himself apart. His fingers tightened over his shirt until he was tearing into it, with the effort to stop. Just stop.

"Remus?! Honey, what are you doing?" A concerned yet caring voice spoke, and he turned around to face an aged but gentle looking woman.

"Mom?" The woman kneeled beside him, uncaring of the vomit. She ran a cool hand through his hair and pressed against his forehead.

"He has a fever." Remus let out a dry laugh.

"I'm dead already. What's a fever going to do?" The woman let out a startled sound before her lips pressed into a determined line.

"Shh. Everything is fine. No one is dead." Remus swallowed, then winced at the acidic tinge in his want to hope, but-

"Liar." He felt it down to his bones. He felt it with deep certainty.

All three of them were dead.

Another pair of hands lifted him away from the pool of vomit.

"Hallucination too. Come on, let's get you to a hospital."

"...don't cry..."

"...don't know...started mumbling about dying..."

"...nightmare..."

With that Remus fell asleep, unaware of the changes he wrought.


	4. Chapter 4

_ James POV _

"Woohoo!" James screamed at the top of his lungs while clinging to his broom while it raced around a pre-set racing tracks.

The chilling wind blew through his hair and he honestly wasn't even sure how he was still attached to the broom even with his death grip on it, he should have fallen off ages ago.

_Thank God for broom safety measures!_

When the broom finally slowed down and he could open his eyes without fear of it tearing off, he spotted his father with widest ear splitting grin he had ever seen. He managed to take one hand off the broom carefully before waving at him.

The broom jerked a little and he immediately re-attached his hand onto the broom as it picked up speed. His adrenaline thrummed with every second as he kept going faster.

His lips parted into a bright grin reflecting the one on his dad's face.

When he finally got off the broom, his blood was singing and his cheeks were flushed because of the cold and his eyes were shining with excitement.

"That was amazing! I didn't even know there was something like that! Wow!" His dad grinned down at him in response.

"This day will only get better! How about we sneak some ice cream before lunch?"

"Won't mom be mad at you?" James grinned back.

"What your mother doesn't know won't hurt her." He winked.

"C'mon!" James was already hurrying towards the ice cream stand that wasn't too far from the open-to-public bloom racing area.

"I want the strawberry flavor! That's the only one I like."

" _I want the strawberry flavor! That's the only one I like."_

" _No way! Chocolate flavor is the best. Looks like I get to educate you on the awesomeness of choco-delight!"_

" _Firstly, that's not a word. Secondly, I-mph- Nooo!"_

James licked his lips momentarily tasted chocolate chips melting in his mouth.

"Actually, I want the chocolate one now." James looked up at his dad without missing a beat. His father happily hummed while buying the ice cream.

James started licking it remembered the exact same taste.

" _Now, don't you like it?" she said with a mischievous grin._

" _No. I didn't even taste it."_

" _Oh come on! It wasn't that bad! And don't lie, I saw you eat it!"_

" _I didn't. You must have seen wrong!"_

" _No way, girl. I have amazing eyesight-wha-stop! Give me my glasses back!"_

" _Now what were you saying about your eyesight again?"_

" _Hmph."_

James silently mouthed the words, laughter bubbling through him. His past life really was fun. He had a lot of excitement then.

He glanced up at his dad and suppressed the smile rising at the thought of his humming, carefree dad of now being present then. He probably would have died from craziness overload.

He silently grabbed his father's hand with the hand not holding onto his ice cream, swinging the joined hand back and forth as they walked.

" _You really should be looking forward when you drive." The girl from before was sitting beside her and grinning that mischievous grin._

" _Yes, I know!" Her eye twitched from the same words directed her way for the nth time. Her friends high-fived right at her ear._

" _You really should be careful while driving. You never know when some asshole forgets what the signals mean or the driving rules." Another voice pitched in. She sighed again._

" _I know, I know. You guys are sitting here to make me more aware and careful, so I never cause an accident."_

" _Hey," the mischievous girl stopped grinning and it looked so odd on her face that she almost did a double take, "we don't mean it like that."_

" _We know how much you value your life." The other voice spoke up._

" _We just know you value our life a lot too. So you'll be extra careful. For us." She looked away from the road for an instant and looked at her friend's sincere face before looking back at the road._

" _Yeah…"_

_Warm blood splattered across her face_

_Tire screeched on the road_

_People screamed_

" _I will."_


	5. Chapter 5

_ Sirius POV _

"No!" A shrill voice screamed. "That's wrong! Do it again! Why can't you do even a single thing right, Regulus? Even such simple things that Sirius has completed so long ago! You should be able to do this much."

"Good thing, Sirius is the heir then, isn't it?" Walburga turned around to see Orion. Her tremendous scowl lessened.

"Yes, yes. Good thing Sirius is better than Regulus at Family Magic and History."

"He'll do the Black name proud." Orion said. Walburga's scowl disappeared for a little while before reappearing.

"But he's still bad at Rituals! How can a Black be bad at rituals? All those Dark rituals passed down for generations!"

"I-I can learn them, Mother." Regulus said meekly.

"Rituals are passed down from Head to Heir, boy." Orion glared down at Regulus. "You should just focus on your own studies." Walburga gave a dismissive sniff.

"Kreature!" She yelled.

"Yes, mistress."

"Keep Regulus in his room for the rest of today. Make sure he studies and give him food on time." Walburga turned away.

"Yes, mistress." Kreature waited for Regulus to finish rolling up his scroll and close the ink pot.

"I'll do better next time, Mother, Father." Regulus walked back to his room with Kreature. Orion watched Regulus leave with an approving look.

Moments after Regulus came inside his room, Sirius busted inside, his eyes shining with worry.

"Regulus! Are you okay? Did mother say anything? Did she hurt you?" Regulus took in his brother's slightly messy robes before sighing and giving him a small smile.

"I'm okay. They were talking about how you were terrible with rituals." Sirius' lips flattened.

"Ah, that old topic." Sirius jumped on top of Regulus' bed. "That's because they keep telling me to kill muggleborns and take their magic or bleed out all those animals. It's ridiculous." Sirius rolled his eyes.

"I offered to learn them in your stead." Regulus said hesitantly.

"What?!" Sirius stop up with alarm lining every part of his body.

"No, Regulus. You can't learn those rituals. Those-" Sirius' face twisted into an intense expression that Regulus felt uneasy just looking at.

He knew that after Sirius' elf did something that ended with her getting killed, Sirius had started getting that look more often. Sirius had loved his elf, so it must be horrifying to see her get killed. But their mother had decided to honor her service to the Black household and had her beheaded and mounted on the wall.

He wasn't sure what he could say, but he never ended up being able to help Sirius. Maybe he really should insist on learning those rituals if Sirius didn't want to. After all, if he learnt it then Mother and Father wouldn't be angry about letting go of their heritage.

A hand rubbing his hair interrupted his thoughts. He looked up at his brother. Sirius gave him a soft smile he never gave Mother or Father.

"Don't worry, Reg. I'll learn those rituals. I'll learn them all for you."

Regulus bit his lip wondering if he had said something wrong. Maybe he just shouldn't have spoken up. He seemed to cause nothing but problems.

"I'm sorry, brother. I shouldn't have said anything." Sirius's head pat became a noogie.

"Ow-owiee." Regulus started whining and Sirius grin in response.

"Didn't I say not to worry? It's okay! If they say anything to you about learning rituals anymore, just tell them I'll learn."

"O-okay, Siri." Regulus said through his tears.

"I'll make sure you're all right, brother. Don't worry about a thing." Sirius hugged his brother making sure to keep his face hidden.

He'll kill those arrogant purebloods for putting them in this kind of position. Just wait until he was the Head of the Black Family.

He'll destroy them all for this.


	6. Chapter 6

_Remus POV_

Remus opened his eyes to the bright sunlight peeking in through the curtains. He blinked a few times in a daze, his mind struggled for a minute to catch up. He yawned before rolling back to sleep.

A few minutes later he jerked up from the bed.

"Oh shit!" He fumbled his way off the bed, almost falling off before he ran for his bathroom to clean up.

"I have school today." He checked up on the clothes his mother had laid out for the day and threw them on before going down to eat his delicious breakfast.

"Here you go, honey." His mother gave him a couple of toasted bread and omelet that he enjoyed thoroughly. Then she dropped him off to the nearby Muggle school.

His father was famous in the Magical World and his mother was non-magical. So he basically had the best of both worlds. The night he had regained his memories was terrifying. More terrifying than he had expected.

His father had called St. Mungo's Hospital because he thought one of his enemies had tried to harm his son. When he called for a couple Aurors to hunt down anyone in his property, they had coincidentally caught a werewolf by the name Fenrir Grayback.

He had been caught and immediately put for dementor's kiss because his father had ruthlessly pushed for it. They had brought so many of Grayback's sins to light, it was crazy.

In the end, they had no idea what he had done to Remus but no one could find a way to reverse it. They knew something was wrong due to the increase in brain activity but magic near the brain, specially for a child was a touchy subject. So they could do nothing else but wait.

Remus on the other hand, was actually healing from his nightmares. His friends had died in front of him, way before him, while he slowly bled out watching them and thinking where he had gone wrong.

He had heard an ambulance too. But in the end, he hadn't survived long enough to receive emergency treatment.

He was kind of glad that he remembered everything. He was scared but he was also really happy.

He was really glad to be alive, most of all. He wondered if both of his friends could have been here too. Maybe one day they would meet. Would they remember him? Or he could be the anomaly.

It would be terrifying but if he found them, he would definitely become their friend once again.

He wanted that life just one more time.


	7. Chapter 7

_James POV_

It was the taste of failure on her tongue.

It was bittersweet.

"Oh, that was pretty good James!" His dad praised him, smiling.

He had said the exact same thing the first time he made that potion. This was his fifth time. He had the exact same ingredients, was using the exact same methods, and yet, the potions were so different.

His was a deep blue, while his father's- the perfect potion- was blue as light as the sky.

One of his previous potions had been a a few shades lighter and his father had just said, "that was a good one". He didn't even know what that meant anymore! All of his potions were going to waste anyway.

James sighed, frustrated.

His father was a mild man. But when it came to potions, he was a perfectionist. He might be complimenting James for every potion, but they were just empty praises. It was literally his first ever potion and it was absolutely terrible.

He went back to the study to learn a bit more about transfiguration or charms. Just anything that _wasn't potions._

His dad was definitely planning to kill him via potion making. There was no other option for why he always had this happy expression on his face while silently putting pressure on James. His mother disagreed though. She always laughed watching her husband torture her son like that.

In the end, though, he knew his parents loved him. They told him so every night as he slept, and it slowly like the shill of winter being chased away, he made peace with his nightmares. They weren't gone. But slowly, he remembered little things. Then more and more each day.

And he remembered many things, not just people. He remembered being an excellent student, and studying so hard to make his parents proud. They never were, but it wasn't for his lack of effort. He would be reading something in the library, and suddenly he would have a host of new knowledge, ready to be used.

He was almost 10 years old and an academic the likes of which, surprised many Noble Houses. Just going by theory alone, he had already surpassed a few specialists in charms and arithmancy.

His parents praised him every time he achieved something new, and they praised him even when he didn't.

He felt like a flower blooming happily under their caring hands. It was joyous. Perfect. This was what he had wanted in his last life.

There was still something else left, but that was fine.

His father had taught him patience and his mother had made sure to teach him how to never let go of an opportunity.

Whatever he was missing, one day, he would find it. And when he did, he wouldn't let it go.

Never.


	8. Chapter 8

_Sirius POV_

Sometimes he wondered what life really had in store for him.

He looked around him, absentmindedly wiping the sweat from his brow with his sleeve. He looked at the white sleeve and winced. It had been blood.

"Tch. Is this acceptable, Mother?" He scowled at the woman watching him from the shadows. She stepped forward, her heels squelching against the rubbery skin left on the ground. Her eyes were wide and mad-bright.

"Yes, yes. Of course, my son. Everything you do is absolute perfection." Sirius curiously flipped the blade in his hand, wondering if it would be worth it to drive it through her neck already. Would that be _'perfection'_ too? Knowing his mother, absolutely yes.

Walburga came in close and hugged a stiff Sirius, who only looked at the wet dripping blade in his hand. He pulled away after a moment.

"I must change my clothes before the evening party starts, Mother." Sirius reminded. She pulled away, looking flustered and happy.

"Yes, of course, my darling boy. It would be exceedingly unseemingly to have ritualistic blood on you during the gathering. Come along now, darling." Walburga happily walked Sirius back to his room, not even calling for Kreature.

They walked past the hallway and Sirius couldn't help but glance at the head of his house elf.

She always been so kind to him. She had helped him when he made foolish plans and helped soothe his injuries whenever his Mother or Father or some of his other relatives caught him. It should have been obvious. He should have hidden her away and only asked for her help carefully, when she wouldn't get caught.

He hadn't expected to see her dead. He hadn't been expecting to see her head mounted on that disgusting rack his mother made. An _'honor'_ she called it. If it was _such_ an honor to have the head mounted, then why didn't she do it to herself?

Of course, he couldn't even show his grief. He wasn't allowed to act out.

Walburga had already learnt.

If he did something wrong, it wasn't him who would get punished, but the people around him. He could act out, be careless, but then he might lose his chance to get every one of his House members. He might not be able to protect his brother.

The kind of things he did for love... He smiled wryly.

He looked back at his Mother with an empty smile that would look real to anyone who didn't know him- that is, everyone but Regulus. He only had Regulus to hold on to. His not-so-solid rock.

When he went back to his brother, he would smile again. He would laugh again. He would cry again.

But until then...

Until then, he had to be perfect.


	9. Chapter 9

_ Remus POV _

Remus wandered through his father's office, a bunch of papers were bundled up on his table. He had been warned not to touch them but...

He had always been a curious person.

His father had been getting quite worried in the last few days. He had worked with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and Remus hadn't been interested in that before. But his father's worries had made him want to help him somehow. Even if there was nothing he could do, he wanted to at least try.

But it was mostly just him being very curious about his father's work.

The papers he rifled through were statements from wizards and muggles alike. They seemed like some magical creature had been teasing a small muggle village. They weren't malicious but the jokes could be unknowingly quite dangerous. The village had been growing recently but the pranks had been off-putting for many of the new residents. A few wizards passing by had reported the issue to the Department and since such pranks were generally related to poltergeists, it had fallen into his father's lap.

Unfortunately, his father's investigative skills needed work. He had visited the place but had been unable to find anything, and no pranks had been played at that time either. He had assumed the poltergeist had left. But as soon as he had left, it started up again.

Remus put down the papers and frowned. It might be possible that it wasn't a poltergeist at all, but incidents like this where a poltergeist started playing with newcomers to the area wasn't uncommon.

That was when he heard his father coming back. He jumped off his dad's chair.

"Remus, have you been bored?" He asked, a smile in his voice. Remus stuck out a tongue at him.

"Not at all, I read the papers on your desk." His dad sighed, a smile tugging on his lips. He knelt down on a knee to get on his eye level.

"And? Did you find out anything?" Lyall asked teasingly. Remus scratched his cheek.

"Not really, but since you're going there again, can I come too?" He opened his mouth about to say something before sighing again.

"How did you even know I was going again? I know it's not written there."

"It's in the department regulations," Remus deadpanned. "How could I not know?"

Lyall smiled, his crow feet coming to focus.

"Of course you know the department regulations." He ruffled Remus' hair. "Okay son. I'll take you there. But in return you have to promise me you won't do anything dangerous, alright? We don't know what creature is there yet."

"Mm. Sure." He agreed. It wasn't like he _wanted_ to risk his second chance at life or anything.

"Fine then! Come, let's go get that lunch I promised you!" Lyall laughed when Remus ran ahead of him with excitement.

"Come on dad. Now you're being slow."

"Coming."

Lyall spared a single glance at the papers spread across his desk then with a flick of his wand turned them all unreadable.

It wouldn't do to allow just anyone to read them, now would it?


End file.
